Diagnosis: Expecting Boss's Baby

“A couple of thousand dollars.”

“I’ll lend it to you,” she said. “But you’re paying me back in installments, starting next month.”

“All right.” Her sister made a face. “Although I think you’re being a chump. All you have to do is help and we could arrange this for free.”

“No.”

“It’s your money,” Candy said.

“On loan!”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll let you know the exact amount when I get the surgery scheduled. Nice to meet you, Doc.”

“Nice meeting you, too,” Patrick said. Remembering how much work he had to do, he escaped to his office.

Before he closed the door, he heard Natalie’s sister say, “Hey, is that guy your boss?”

“Yes.”

“He’s got a great bod,” was the response.

Patrick thought he heard his secretary groan. He was more grateful than ever that his own ultra-dependable sister made his life easier, not more complicated.

Chapter Four

The second floor of the West Wing lay directly across the courtyard from the administration offices. From Heather Rourke’s waiting room, Natalie could see the outside of her own window.

It looked a million miles away.

She tried to read the novel she’d brought to pass the time while waiting for her appointment. It was no use. After skimming the same page three times without absorbing the contents, she gave up.

Her cheeks still burned as she remembered yesterday’s encounter with Candy. Her sister had been rude to Patrick and she’d proposed to cheat her insurance company.

Patrick hadn’t said anything critical, then or later, and Natalie knew he didn’t hold her responsible for her sister’s lack of ethics. But she hated to think that, when he learned about her deception, he might consider her and Candy to be two of a kind.

When she applied for the job, she’d known that her computer, typing, filing and front-office skills were all first rate. She’d taken secretarial classes and gained experience working for a temp agency.

The woman who handed her the application, however, had startled her by saying, “Dr. Grier insists on a certificate from a secretarial school. You do have one, don’t you?”

Instinctively Natalie had nodded. On the application, under “education,” she’d listed a certificate that, in fact, she hadn’t finished earning.

It had been a long time ago, and Patrick ought to understand. But he’d fired a lab technician for a similar offense.

“Nat? Is that you?” She looked up, startled, to see an old friend, Rita Lopez Beltran. “It’s been a long time!”

Rita’s husband, Sam, owned the car dealership where Natalie’s ex-husband, Ralph, had worked. The two women, near the same age, had gravitated to each other at company picnics. They still saw each other occasionally, since Rita’s sister, Loretta Lopez Arista, was the public-relations director for Doctors Circle.

“You look wonderful.” Natalie meant it wholeheartedly. Rita was glowing.

“I just found out I’m pregnant, and it’s thanks to Dr. Rourke!” gushed the dark-haired woman. “I’ve been wanting a baby for so long I’m floating on air.”

“Congratulations!”

“Please don’t tell my sister,” Rita added. “Loretta’s been trying to get pregnant even longer than I have, and I don’t want to upset her.”

“She’ll find out sooner or later,” Natalie pointed out.

“Maybe by then she’ll be pregnant herself,” Rita said.

“I hope so. I wish the best for you both.”

“How are you doing? Any word from Ralph?”

“He’s in Texas, working as a mechanic,” Natalie said. “Last month he sent a card and said he was thinking of me. I hope he’s not thinking too hard, because I don’t want to see him.”

“I don’t blame you, after the way he behaved. Well, I can’t wait to tell my husband the good news. Please remember not to say anything to my sister.”

“I promise,” Natalie said.

Shortly after Rita left, Heather’s nurse, Cynthia Hernandez, called Natalie’s name. The young woman proceeded to weigh her and take her temperature. She had a distracted air. There were dark circles under her eyes and a strand of her tied-back dark hair straggled along one cheek.

“Are you feeling okay?” Natalie asked.

“Excuse me?” The young woman looked startled.

“You’re a million miles away.” Always before, Heather’s nurse had struck Natalie as cheerful and outgoing.

“I’m a little tired,” Cynthia said. “My boyfriend and I were out late last night. It doesn’t interfere with my work, honestly.”

“I never suggested it did,” Natalie reassured her. “It was a friendly question.” Even though she worked for the center’s administrator, that didn’t mean she pried into everyone’s business.

She simply cared about all the people here, staff and patients, who these days were referred to as clients. She cared about Rita and Loretta, and about Cynthia, too.

The nurse asked for a urine specimen, then prepared Natalie for the exam. A few minutes later Heather came bustling into the room, wearing a traditional white coat and stethoscope.

“Nat! So tell me what’s going on. Are you feeling ill?” Concern shone in the obstetrician’s face. Despite her thirty-six years, Heather looked almost too young to be a doctor, and her intensity and halo of red hair made her seem larger than life.

There was no point in being coy, Natalie told herself. “I think I’m pregnant.”

“Let’s find out.” Within minutes, Heather had examined Natalie, determined the date of her last period and tested the specimen. “You’re right. I’d put your due date at around May first.”

After Natalie got dressed, they sat down to talk. Patients often commented on how carefully Heather listened to them, and the reason was obvious.

“I don’t know how to tell the father,” Natalie said. “It’s a delicate situation.”

“He’s not married, is he?” Heather asked.

“No, of course not.”